Weymouth's Paul Carey hopes for chance to play against Bruins

Friday

Mar 21, 2014 at 3:46 AMMar 21, 2014 at 3:50 AM

Paul Carey of Weymouth has played his first three NHL games since the Colorado Avalanche called him up from the minor leagues on March 10. Carey hopes to play tonight against the Bruins, who have won 10 games in a row.

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

Add it all up, and it comes out to a little less than 16 minutes of ice time over three games in the last 10 days. That’s less than Paul Carey plays in one game for the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters, less than he played when he was an upperclassman at Boston College, less than he played for probably every team he has been with since he was a teenager.

They’ve been just about the best 16 minutes of Carey’s hockey-playing life, though, and if he can get more minutes tonight, it would be incredible.

“I would love to play. All the times I watched the Bruins play growing up and when I was in college, it would be pretty amazing to suit up against them and play against those guys – and win.”

That last part might not be so easy, as the B’s are riding a 10-game winning streak overall and have gone 12 road games since losing in regulation (9-0-3). It has, however, become the type of challenge the playoff-bound Avs, who are jockeying for first-round home ice with the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, can meet these days.

So it’s an exciting time for Carey, a 25-year-old center in his second pro season, to make it to the AHL. He was recalled from Lake Erie on March 10 after injuries along the Avs’ forward lines picked off Alex Tanguay, Paul Stastny and P.A. Parenteau. With John Mitchell joining the list in the last week, Carey has stuck around.

His NHL debut came in a 3-2 win over the ’Hawks on March 12, after which he suited up for a 6-4 loss to Anaheim two nights later then accompanied the Avalanche on a three-game Canadian trip, playing most recently in Wednesday’s overtime loss at Winnipeg.

“It’s just an amazing opportunity to be here, living out my dream of playing in the NHL,” Carey said. “Every day is special.”

Carey worked and waited a long time for these days: He was drafted by Colorado in 2007 (fifth round, No. 135), when he was at the Salisbury School in Connecticut. From there, he played for a year with the Indiana Ice of the junior-level USHL before a four-year stay at BC, where he helped the Eagles win NCAA titles in 2010 and ’12.

“I almost forget the year I was drafted, it was so long ago,” he said. “It’s been a long road, but I don’t know if I would have done it any differently.

“Going to college, experiencing all that, then playing two years in the minors … there’s a lot to learn. There are so many different aspects of the game, so I’m glad I went the way I went. It’s starting to pay off now and hopefully that’ll continue.”

Assigned to the Avs’ fourth line by coach Patrick Roy, Carey played a little less than six minutes against the Blackhawks and Jets, and just under four against the Ducks. He doesn’t have a point yet, but there has been a highlight: His parents, Paul and Denise, brother Billy and sister Bridget all made it to Denver to see his debut against Chicago.

“They had a great time,” Carey said. “And for me, it was just an amazing moment to be able to step out on the ice for the first time in the NHL and have my family in the stands.”

AROUND THE BOARDS

Off since Tuesday’s 4-2 win at New Jersey, the Bruins held only an optional skate on Thursday in Denver. They’ll leave immediately after the game for Phoenix, where they meet the Coyotes on Saturday night (9:05, NESN, WBZ-FM/98.5) … Defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who has missed two games since sustaining a foot injury in last Thursday’s 5-1 victory over Carolina, skated for the first time in Denver, but coach Claude Julien wasn’t sure if Boychuk will play against the Avs … The Bruins signed Ben Sexton, a seventh-round draft pick in 2009 (No. 206) overall, to an entry-level contract and assigned him to AHL Providence. Sexton recently completed a four-year career at Dartmouth.

Mike Loftus may be reached at mloftus@ledger.com. On Twitter.com: @MLoftus_Ledger.